Making the Call
by ardavenport
Summary: Johnny calls Joanne about Roy. Dixie and Karen size up how he does.


**MAKING THE CALL**

by ardavenport

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Roy hurt everywhere, every muscle cramped, his chest tight. He didn't remember hitting the ground, but he could feel the bruises. And he remembered the lightning shock going through him when he hit the wires after the ladder slipped. The oxygen helped, a small breeze of freeze air amidst his pain. He supposed the IV did, too.

Karen kept an eye on the EKG. But she didn't look worried. In fact, she looked a bit more confident than she had on the whole shift. Johnny checked his pulse again. Roy could feel it racing.

"We're almost there."

Roy nodded, but he didn't need Johnny to tell him that. He recognized the landmarks through the small window in the ambulance's rear door.

He stared upward. Johnny was going to have to call Joanne to tell her what happened. He certainly hoped it would go better than the last time.

**

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"You can use the phone here, Johnny."

"Thanks, Dix."

Karen Overstreet's shoulders tensed; she crossed her arms over her chest. "Do you need my help?"

John Gage picked up the reciever. "Oh, no, I got it." He looked far too casual for a man making a call like this. Karen really did not know what help she could give, but it felt wrong not to offer. He already knew Roy's wife. He had to be the one to tell her what happened.

Roy would be fine. She was as sure as she could be about that; he was conscious now and looking a lot better as they brought him in. But it was still bad new for his wife.

She nervously watched Gage dial and then lean on the counter while he waited for her to answer.

"Hi, Joanne? Yeah, it's me. We brought Roy into Rampart. We're here right now and you should come in. . . . . . Uh, Doctor Brackett . . . . . yeah, we should be here, just go to the admissions desk. Okay, we'll be here. Bye."

"That's it?" Karen's voice rose in surprise

"Yeah." He nodded, very confident. "Joanne's a fireman's wife. She knows about these things." He started gesturing, explaining like an instructor in a training class. "You see, you've got to have the right feel for these kinds of things. You've got to use just the right tone to handle people."

Behind his back, Karen saw Dixie McCall, tight-lipped, looking at John critically while he kept going.

"I mean, what you have to do is just keep things strictly business if you have to give somebody bad news. Be calm, professional, but sympathetic. Don't forget that; you don't want to be cold." He held his hands up as if he was going to restrain her from being too harsh.

"Now if you're take control of the situation, right away . . . " Johnny turned just then and saw Dixie's expression. His confidence suddenly faultered. ". . . well, I mean, if you're sure of yourself in these cases, then other people will pick up on it and - - "

Dixie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Aaah, Karen how about you re-stock the drug box here," He patted the box, sitting on the counter next to the base station, "While I just go to the little boys' room for a minute." Flashing a nervous smile, he then fled down the busy hallway of the emergency department.

Karen raised her own eyebrows. "Uh, what am I missing?" Stepping up to the counter, she laid a hand on the drug box that John Gage abandoned.

"Well." Dixie sighed. "He's not completely wrong about being calm. But let's just say that he was having a little trouble with that himself, just a few weeks ago."

**

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_

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"You can use the phone here, Johnny."_

_He stared at the phone Dixie pointed to. Biting his lip, he stepped up to the counter by the base station and picked up the receiver and dialed. He sucked in air as if he was cold while he listened to it ring._

_"Yeah, hi. Joanne. Yeah, its me, Johnny. . . . ," he flashed a false smile she couldn't see, ". . . Uh, well, um, aaaaah . . . ," his smile turned down into a grimace, " . . . we're actually at Rampart and uuuuuh, well, uuuuuuh, Roy is fine . . . . . . . . uuuummmm, well, no you can't talk to him . . . . . . uuuuuuh, uuuuuuh, he's with Doctor Brackett . . . . . . oh, well, uuuuhhh, there was a fire . . . . . . ooooh, no, no, he didn't didn't get burned, Joanne, no, no, no, nothing like that . . . . . . uuuuuh, well, he and Captain Stanley were getting a guy out of a warehouse, away from the fire . . . . . oh, the Cap's fine, he's fine, he wasn't hurt . . . . . well, like I said, they were rescuing a victim from the fire . . . . oh, he's fine, too, just some smoke. . . . . aaaaaah, well, it turns out," he ran his fingers through his hair, "they were storing fireworks in the warehouse; the guy in charge of it didn't tell us when we went in. And they, sort of, started to go off, and there was this big explosion, but everyone else was fine, we think something hit Roy's helmet . . . . ," he took a deep breath, " . . . well, no, Doctor Brackett's still with him . . . . and they're taking x-rays . . . . . because he's still out, I mean, unconscious . . . . but he's fine, his vital signs are good, except, aaaaaahh . . . . . well, uuuummm, there was some bleeding from his ears, but Doctor Brackett thinks it's . . . . . . yeah. Um, yeah . . . . . . yeah, yeah."_

_Johnny held the phone away from his ear. Dixie heard a dial tone._

_He exhaled a long, nervous sigh. "She's on her way."_

_Dixie rolled her eyes and shook her head._

**

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"I see." Karen lowered her gaze thoughtfully. "So," she looked back up again, "all that stuff John said about being calm and professional . . . . isn't exactly how he always handles things." They stood together by the base station while Karen sorted a few packets of needles that Dixie had given here into drug box. Otherwise, the box was already well stocked.

"Mmmm, he means well." Dixie tilted her head. "And he's as calm as any of us in a crisis; I've seen him break bad news to people. But I think that time he was a little rattled because it was Roy and we weren't sure how serious it was. And he never had call Joanne about Roy before."

"He never had to call Roy's wife to tell he was hurt.?"

Dixie shook her head. "No. Usually it's Johnny who gets carried in here. He's . . . had a few injuries. But not Roy."

"Hmmm." Karen closed the drug box. "Well, he seemed to have it together this time."

Dixie smiled. "That's mostly because Joanne had a little talk with him."

**

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_

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Dixie had a break and came up with him. Roy had woken up and seemed to be fine and his x-rays looked normal, but Brackett wanted him to stay at Rampart overnight since he was unconscious for almost an hour._

_They met Joanne in the hallway, coming out of Roy's room and she confirmed that he looked fine and had complained about the hospital food he got for dinner. But she put her hand on Johnny's arm, stopping him from going into the room._

_"Johnny, I have to say, when I got your call . . . ," she pressed her lips together before looking up, pinning him with her pale blue eyes, "that had to be the most incoherent, confusing and terrifying call I have ever gotten from you."_

_He swallowed guiltily. Dixie stayed silent._

_"Now." She let go of his arm. "I have thught about it. And if anything ever happens to Roy, and you have to call me again, I want you to just tell me that Roy was injured and only answer the question I ask. And nothing else. All right?"_

_Humbled, he nodded. "Yeah."_

_Joanne's expression softened. "Roy doesn't like to think about things like that and I suppose you don't either._

_"But I have thought about it. And if for any reason you have to call because he's badly injured or," her voice faultered on the last word and she paused, "with the worst news, I don't want to get it over the phone. Just tell me to come in and I will. If Roy is fine, I'll be fine. And if he isn't . . . . I'll deal with it. Okay?"_

_"Okay."_

_She sadly looked up at him. Then grabbed him in a quick hug._

_"Thank-you."_

_When they pulled away, he managed a half-grin in return. Joanne turned to Dixie and the two women hugged._

_"Thank-you, too."_

_"Well, we're just glad that Roy is okay." Dixie faced the other woman. "And you, too."_

_Joanne smilled back. "Thanks. Roy'll be glad to see you." She tugged the strap of her purse higher up on her shoulder. "But I've got to get home. The neighbor's are watching the kids."_

_They said good-bye; Johnny and Dixie watched her go down the hospital hallway to the elevator before turning and going into Roy's room._

**

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Karen walked back in through the emergency exit after putting the drug box back in the squad. She looked to either side and saw nurses, orderlies and a few people in the chairs in the waiting area, but no John Gage.

He had probably gone back to Treatment Room Two to see Roy. She though about going, but they had enough people in there. At the other end of the hall, she saw Doctor Hubbert speaking on the radio at the base station. She didn't know him very well. The problem with being a trainee, and one from out of town, was that she didn't always fit in.

She sat down in an empty chair at the end of the row and waited for John to return or for them to take Roy upstairs. He was going to have to spend the night at Rampart.

After fifteen minutes a woman with short red hair and wearing brown slacks and a light blue turtleneck shirt walked past, coming from the entrance by the admissions desk. She didn't look sick and she seemed to know where she was going. Karen had a strong intuition who she was. But when she met Dixie McCall in the hallway, Karen knew.

Getting up, she went to join them.

"Oh, Karen. This is Joanne DeSoto. Joanne, this is our newest paramedic trainee, Karen Overstreet."

"Hello." They shook hands.

"Hello. Roy's talked about you. He thinks you're going to make a good paramedic. First woman in the program, too."

Karen smiled to hear Joanne's admiring tone. She had not been certain that she would make it through the program. Until today, when Roy fell off a ladder and hit a power line. And Karen was the only one there who could help.

"Dixie tells me you did a good job taking care of Roy when he was hurt."

Karen hoped she wasn't blushing. "I just followed my training. And Roy had a lot to do with that."

"Well, thank-you. You should come over to dinner sometime. We'd love to have you."

"I'd love to come. I just wish we didn't have to first meet for something like this."

Joanne agreed. "Yes, I hope this isn't going to start being a bad habit."

Behind her, Karen saw Johnny emerge from Treatment Room Two and look in either direction. Dixie and Joanne turned and saw him approach them.

"Hi Joanne." He suddenly seemed breathless. "Uh, they're just getting ready to take Roy upstairs," he gestured down the hall, "but Doctor Brackett said that you can see him."

"Thank-you." Joanne laid her hand on his arm briefly. She had a low voice and penetrating pale blue eyes. Karen could easily picture her cowing her John Gage.

With a brief nod to them all, she left. They saw her meet and speak with Dr. Brackett, on his way out, before she went in.

He sighed in obvious relief. Then he looked from one to the other of the two remaining women appraising him.

"What?"

**

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* * *

The pain was still there. But Brackett had given him something that dulled it quite a lot.

"Roy."

Opening his eyes, he saw Joanne standing over him.

"Hey."

"I talked to Doctor Brackett and he says you're going to be fine."

"Yeah. That's what he told me. I guess it must be true." Roy tried to manage a smile, but, feeling a bit numb, he wasn't sure how it was going. Apparently he got the right effect; she laid a hand on his cheek.

"I guess I'm a little late telling you to stay away from power lines."

"Well, this one kind of snuck up on me. How're the kids?"

"They're fine. They're with the Andersons. I'll talk to them when I get home." She bent low to kiss his forehead. She smelled better than the oxygen. But he saw tears brightening the corners of her eyes when she pulled away.

"Hey, I'm going to be fine." He reached across, with the arm without the IV, and she took his hand.

"I know."

He frowned. "Did Johnny call you?"

She nodded and dabbed at her eyes. "Yeah."

"How'd he do this time?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "He did great."

**

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...\\oo\\oo\\oo END oo/oo/oo/...**

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Disclaimer:** All E! characters belong to Mark VII Productions, Inc., Universal Studios and whoever else owns the 1970's TV show Emergency! All Quantum Leap characters and settings belong to Belisarius Productions and/or Universal and/or whoever else owns them. I am just playing in their sandbox.


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